'Supermodels of the Rainforest': 
Neoimperialism, Intellectual Property and Cosmetics


	In this paper, I use the cd-rom, "Supermodels in the
Rainforest," as a touchtone text for an analysis of
the commodification of the rainforest in the discourse
and industry of cosmetics.  This cd-rom invites
prospective male viewers to "explore the beauty of the
rainforest" and to "learn about the importance of
rainforest preservation" guided by eight "Supermodels"
on a tour of the rainforest in Costa Rica.  In an
ironic reworking of ecofeminist logic which equates
the body of the earth with the body of "woman," the
cd-rom simultaneously employs the rhetoric of
progressive environmentalism and promotes male visual
control over and objectification of the images of
women's bodies.  Viewers are encouraged to "interact
with incredible Supermodel photo sessions by
controlling the camera and selecting from a variety of
sequences." 
	I situate this reading within the larger context of
commodification of the rainforest in contemporary
beauty discourse and in the recent proliferation of
rainforest-themed western businesses, such as the
Rainforest restaurants springing up in cities such as
London and Washington, D.C.  The discursive maneuvers
displayed in this cd-rom reflect a larger trend of
both discursive and material neo-imperialism within
the discourse and industry of beauty, particularly
that of cosmetics.  A text such as this which
positions the Supermodel as the appropriate tour guide
for a preservationist look at the beauty of the
rainforest is not all that surprising (even if still
quite unsettling and oppressive) when considered in
the context of a contemporary discourse of western
beauty which rhetorically and visually places western,
white, urban women within the milieu of the native
woman of color, such as the jungle or desert. 
Moreover, companies such as Aveda and the Body Shop
not only rhetorically draw upon environmentalist
discourse and the trope of the native, natural habitat
of the rainforest; they also turn the use values of
indigenous knowledge into exchange values in the form
of their products which contain ingredients extracted
from non-western non-urban environments.  I conclude
with some reflections on the materialist implications
of such texts and the social and economic
relationships promoted and obscured by these texts,
noting, for example, the real activist efforts of
indigenous peoples on behalf of environments such as
the rainforest.  I show slides of pertinent images
throughout my analysis.